Sarah Wright

Biography

Dr. Sarah Wright is an Education Scientist at Michael Garron Hospital and the Wilson Centre and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. Her research program is inspired and informed by a decade of experience as a psychometrician at Newcastle University Medical School (UK), where she also gained her PhD in 2012. This practical experience has given her insight into how assessment frameworks can limit or support educational goals such as fostering compassionate practitioners or striving for social change. Her research program takes a critical lens to assessment and admissions practices, exploring the (un)intended consequences of educational action. For example, she has combined psychometric and critical approaches to investigate the ways in which admissions policies often work to favour culturally and socially privileged medical students, thereby limiting attempts to improve student diversity. Through improved understanding of how emerging education goals transpire within existing education structures, her research seeks to improve education practice.